Matt Kemp (27) and Dee Gordon celebrate the victory, which gave the Dodgers a five-game lead over San Francisco in the National League West. (John Bazemore/The Associated Press)

ATLANTA — First impressions in baseball are easy to forget.

Orel Hershiser was called up to the Dodgers as a reliever in 1983; he gave up three runs in his first big-league appearance. In 1980, Fernando Valenzuela also debuted in relief and gave up two runs. Sandy Koufax walked eight batters in his first career start back in 1955. Fortunately for the Dodgers, each of them was given a second chance.

Kevin Correia came to the Dodgers without hype. He isn’t a young phenom; he’s a 12-year veteran with a sub-.500 career record. Correia was 5-13 and leading the American League in losses when the Dodgers obtained him from the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later or cash on Saturday.

Given a chance to start over with a new team Monday, Correia (1-0) took a no-hitter into the fourth inning. He completed six innings, allowed one run and won his first National League game in two years as the Dodgers beat the Braves 6-2.

How’s that for a first impression?

“I was a little bit, I think, overamped early,” Correia said. “I haven’t had that feeling in a while. I came out of my delivery on a few pitches, but I was able to harness it right away.”

The 33-year-old right-hander has a well-earned reputation for being a fly-ball pitcher, but the Braves didn’t hit anything out of the infield until Emilio Bonifacio led off the fourth inning with a single. That was Atlanta’s first baserunner of the game.

Bonifacio came around to score, but the Dodgers pulled ahead 3-1 in the sixth inning, then tacked on three more runs in the eighth.

Correia said that he shook off catcher A.J. Ellis twice out of 82 pitches, “and he was pretty much right on the ones that I shook.”

Correia’s next start isn’t guaranteed. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly reiterated that Correia will go to the bullpen and stay there unless one of the Dodgers’ top five starters struggles or is injured. The purpose of his start Monday was to give the top five an extra day of rest in August.

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“I think that’s going to be important for us moving forward,” Mattingly said. “We have to survive the next few days because we’re a hair short in the bullpen because of this. It’s been a shot in the arm for us for sure, those two guys came in and gave us good outings.”

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti had to scrape for help when Maholm and Josh Beckett went down with injuries earlier this month, and came up with Correia and Roberto Hernandez, who debuted Friday.

Hernandez, obtained last week from the Philadelphia Phillies for two lower-level prospects, has a career record of 65-90. Like Correia, Hernandez wasn’t the Dodgers’ first choice but he pitched six solid innings in his debut.

If a good impression for one day can translate for another month or two, starting pitching depth is no longer among the Dodgers’ concerns.

After a slow start, they collected 11 hits off Julio Teheran (10-9) and three relievers. Adrian Gonzalez went 2 for 5, his fifth consecutive multi-hit game. Carl Crawford (3 for 4), Yasiel Puig (2 for 4) and Correia (2 for 2) — a career .121 hitter — did most of the damage at the plate.

Gonzalez singled with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, driving in Correia to tie the game 1-1. With one out and the bases still full, Crawford beat out an infield single to score Dee Gordon with the go-ahead run.

The Dodgers led 3-1 when they staged a two-out rally in the eighth inning to break the game open against the Atlanta bullpen.

Puig walked, Matt Kemp doubled and Crawford singled to drive in Puig. A throwing error by Bonifacio on a potential double-play ground ball allowed both Kemp and Crawford to score, and gave Ellis his most unexpected RBI of the season.

Brian Wilson and Jamey Wright each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Evan Gattis tagged Carlos Frias for an RBI double in the ninth inning.

The Dodgers took advantage of the San Francisco Giants’ off-day to take a season-high five-game lead in the National League West.

The Braves are moving in the opposite direction, having lost 10 of their last 12 games, including four against the Dodgers. Monday, they might not have seen the same Kevin Correia that most remembered.

Gonzalez, who spent two seasons in San Diego with Correia, wasn’t surprised.

“I think he’s going to do real well here because Honey (pitching coach Rick Honeycutt) and A.J. do a great job scouting the hitters and knowing how to pitch guys. With a guy like him that can execute and take control of both sides of the plate, I think this is a good spot for him.”